Ace in the Hole

Chapter Five – A New Face in Town

“Fear of the Dark, Fear of the Dark.  I have the constant fear that something’s always near. Fear of the Dark. Fear of the Dark. I have a phobia that someone’s always there…-Iron Maiden“

I got away from the guild as fast as possible.  The ponies that roamed the streets at night weren’t exactly dumb.  They knew that they had a good chance of finding a lone pony near a guild, begging to be let in.  A good hiding place was one that nobody expected and this was what I intended on finding tonight.  There was no way I could outrun a pony with my injured hip and my fatigue.  Tonight I couldn’t afford to lose my concentration or else I would probably lose my life.

I spent thirty minutes scouting out the area around our guild for the best hiding places.  Barrels were no longer an option for me as I had outgrown them, so I had to move on to larger hiding spots.  My ideal location for a hiding spot was above eye level and in a dark location.  Most ponies only see what is straight ahead of them and don’t look up to often.  This tidbit of knowledge combined with the stealth that my coat provided, would probably end up being sufficient cover for the night.  Another thing I looked for in a hiding place was room to maneuver.  The idea was simple enough, if I was found and couldn’t move, I was dead, therefore, if I had room to move, I had a chance to escape and maybe stick somepony with the knife I had brought with me.  I found a hiding space that suited these needs and had a crack that I could see through to look at the street outside.

I was holed up in my hiding place for a few minutes before I started hearing the screaming.  It was much louder than the screams heard at the guild.  It sounded as though a mare had been caught only a few streets down.  I tried to ignore the sounds, knowing that there was nothing I could do to help her.  It wouldn’t make it easier even when the screaming stopped because at that point she was either dead or had given up fighting.  Any pony that didn’t escape the ponies that roamed the streets at night was usually found the next day with their organs spilling out of their corpses.  Mares were usually abused before they were killed and were usually found with their legs broken and their flanks rubbed raw before they were killed.  Nobody had sympathy for the hood ponies, but there weren’t any ponies willing to challenge their authority in the night.  Guilds had been formed by desperate ponies that were tired of running and built up defenses.   With enough ponies in a guild, the hood ponies stopped preying upon them, favoring the easier pickings of lone ponies.

The screaming lasted for around five hours and ended abruptly after a final wail that conveyed the agony that the mare had gone through.  I hoped that that mare could finally find peace in death that she had not been granted in her life in the Drudge.  I’m ashamed to say that after that, all I felt was a sick happiness that I hadn’t been the one to die.

I stayed vigilant constantly throughout the night.  Whenever I felt that I was beginning to doze off, it was easy to wake myself by thinking of what had happened to the mare.  I saw a few passing groups of cloaked ponies through my crack in the wall.  Most of them appeared to be drugged up with brightfire, one of the local weeds that caused a pleasant, warm feeling in the brain. Though most of these hood ponies wouldn’t notice it if a pony ran in front of them, a few of them had bloodlust in their eyes and only death would satiate that need.  These ponies appeared to be in charge of the groups of ponies and they were the ones I needed to avoid if I wished to stay alive. They weren’t under the influence of any drug and only thirsted for violence.

The night was surprisingly uneventful and for that I was glad.  There were only about three more hours until sun-up and safety.  Still a lot could happen in three hours and I continued watching.  There had been more screaming throughout the night, although it was much farther away from me.  I thought I was going crazy when I heard more yells coming from the street I was overlooking.  I thought my mind was just replaying the screams I had heard earlier, until I realized that the yells were masculine.  Through my peephole, I saw a pegasus running wildly from a group of ponies.  This pegasus began attempting to fly away and would have made it if a rope from the pursuing ponies hadn’t caught him around his neck. Surprisingly, the pegasus managed to break through the rope that held him. He attempted to take flight again but was stopped when a knife clipped off a small chunk of his wing, and he crashed into the alley I was hiding in.  The pony was trapped in this alley and now he had inadvertently trapped me also.  There was only a slim chance that I wasn’t going to be seen from the ground directly beneath me.

I took the split seconds I had to formulate a plan.  The hood ponies did not know I was there and so the element of surprise was with me.  However, the pegasus also did not know that I was there and surprising him might ruin any of my attempts to flee or fight.  I decided that this was a risk that I would have to be willing to take.  I would prefer if I could save both the pegasus and myself, but I knew that the chances that either of us would escape was low.  The ponies approached the cornered pegasus who refused to whimper or cower in the face of death.  I admired his strength and courage and decided that I was going to do my very best to get him out of this situation.  One of the hood ponies that had been slowly approaching started laughing hysterically and quickly jumped forward to stab the pegasus.  The pegasus, in return, jumped out of the way of the knife and landed a devastating kick on the offending ponies leg.  I dared not jump out of my hiding place too soon and lose my only advantage.  The other ponies closed in quickly and the pegasus had nowhere to move.  Now was my chance.

I quietly hopped down from my hiding place with my knife.  I joined the pack of ponies that were beating the pegasus to the ground.  I hoped that my black coat would slip beneath these ponies notice.  I jumped onto the back of the pony farthest back and pulled my knife across his throat, giving him a red smile.  Unlike killing helpless rabbits, killing this corrupt pony filled me with a sense of justice. The pony crumpled to the ground and I took out four more of the ten ponies that were attacking the pegasus in a similar fashion.  Only after the number of attackers had been halfed, did the hood ponies notice me.  Deciding that it was time to use their weapons to carve us up, they pulled out their knives that looked sharp enough to cut steel.  Three of the ponies lunged at me. Luckily for me, my senses were much more honed to the movement of animals.  I saw the lunge before it happened and I rolled underneath their attacks and knocked the feet out from underneath one of them.  I propped my knife up underneath the falling pony and he died once he hit the ground, my knife passing through his windpipe and cutting off his air supply.  The other two ponies seemed to be under the influence of brightfire and appeared confused as to why their companion wasn’t standing back up.  I took this moment to scoop up three of the knives from the fallen ponies. ‘Time to try something new,’ I thought.  I lifted the most balanced of the three knives behind my head and released it with as much force as I could muster.  At the close distance, the knife fixed itself squarely in one of the pony’s shoulder.  The pony fell back with a howl and attempted to pry the blade from his shoulder.  The other pony, a mare by the look of it, continued her charge.  There was no chance of me being able to throw another blade before she reached me.  I decided to do what she least expected me to do.  I stepped right in front of her charge.  She ran into me at full speed and we both came crashing to the ground.  I had been ready for it and so I was able to recover and sink a blade into her chest before she figured out what was happening.  Only one pony was left attacking me.  I looked over to see that the pegasus had been able to crush in the heads of one of his attackers.  That meant the fight was finally fair. Two of us and two of them.

The pony with the knife in his shoulder managed to dislodge it and was now holding it in his other hoof and he looked like he was about to charge at me.  I was about to throw the only remaining knife I had at him until I noticed that the pegasus was down.  The other attacker had managed to rope his forehooves together and was now going in for the killing blow.  I reacted as quickly as I could and hurled the knife at the pony.  I didn’t have a chance to see where the knife hit because my attacker stabbed me with one of his two knives.  Getting hit with a crossbow bolt was nothing compared to having a sharp knife dig deep into my flesh and get lodged into my bone.  Everything that was going in my mind came to an abrupt stop.  All I felt was the pain of the knife.  The knife had passed through my skin and the blade was lodged in my rib.  I saw the offending pony ready to go in for a killing strike and I was sure that I was about to die.  All of a sudden, my attacker crumpled to the ground.  Behind him, I saw that the pegasus had slain his attacker and mine.  I wanted to thank him for helping me but then I passed out.

I woke up looking at the face of the pegasus that fought with me.  He appeared to have bandaged my rid and hip wound.  He appeared anxious when I was awake, but politely waited for me to initiate the conversation.

“Who are you?” Yep, great way to start a conversation.  Go me.

“I’m Windstorm.  And you are?” The pegasus replied.

“I’m Shrimp… I mean Surefire.  What guild do you belong to?”  I replied.

“What are guilds?”  Windstorm replied.  Oh he’s new around here.  That would explain why he might have been caught outside at night.  Where was he from anyway, that wouldn’t know about the hood ponies?

“Well I’ll explain it to you when we go back to my guild, the Horseshoe Guild.  Help me loot these bodies.  With any luck, they will have enough stuff to loot that we can pay dues for me, you, and Pearl.”  He quickly went about obeying his orders and we had a large pile of stolen jewelry, knives, and cloaks that would keep us warm during the colder months of the year.  My side ached pretty badly and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go hunting or do any other jobs without a day’s worth of meds and some painkillers.

We walked back to the guild with the loot wrapped up in makeshift saddlebags that I made from cloth.  On the way I explained to Windstorm the way that guilds worked and why night times were bad.  After he appeared to grasp the basic concept of guilds, I began asking him questions.

“Windstorm, how is it that I’ve never seen you before and you don’t know anything about the Drudge?”

“I lived in the palace for most of my life,” Windstorm began.  Great I just saved someone important, maybe I could cash in on this.  “My father, he was the chief advisor to Queen Borea    before she was killed in the coup.  My father was killed as well and I only made it out of the slaughter because of my wings.  I was one of the fastest ponies in my class, and I was able to outrun the gryphons they sent to hunt me.  I’ve been running around the Haunted Hollows for a while now, but I never dared go farther than a few hundred feet in.  I got hungry, so I spent most of yesterday scavenging for food.  I decided to spend the night in one of the alleyways until I got caught by that group of hoodlums.  I would have been done for if you hadn’t saved me.  I owe you my life and will do anything in my power to try and help you.”

Very noble and well phrased.  I like this guy.  We walked into the guild and we quickly became the center of attention.  Thieves knew what loads of loot looked like and I bet some of them were planning the best way to take care of some of it for us.  After a brief introduction, I went up to one of the gryphons and gave them everything we had collected minus three cloaks and two knives.  It was enough to pay for all three of us.  I told Windstorm that I needed a little rest before I explained to him how the rest of his life was going to run.  I took Windstorm to the sickbeds to check on Pearl and take a nap.  I talked to Doc who reported that Pearl had come to for a moment before falling back into her unconscious state.  I was also able to get both me and Windstorm some of Doc’s painkillers by promising him early access to our adventures from last night.

With all the little things out of the way, it was finally time for me and Windstorm to catch up on some much needed rest.